Avatar series (Nickelodeon)
Avatar: Post Apocalypse Theory The Avatar universe is very complex, vast, and mysterious. There's so much known and unknown about the show, from the minor details to the major events that fail to explain. My theory on the show is, that between the times of Avatar Wan and Avatar Aang, the world suffered an unknown apocalyptic event that has forced man to start over. In this article, there will be evidence that supports this theory. Evidence This theory is basically as the title says: That the Avatar series takes place in the future instead of the past like it seems to be. Now I know it may not seem likely at first, since most of the events relate to the past in our world. But some aspects on the show say otherwise... Timeline On the show, there are plenty of past events that occurred before either Avatar: The Last Airbender or The Legend of Korra ever occurred. These include Wan Shi Tong raising his library to the physical world, Tui and La turning into koi fish for the Northern Water Tribe, and when Raava connected the spirit and human worlds together. What's wrong here is when this occurred. In the episode Beginnings, Part 1 and Part 2, it shows the time of the character Avatar Wan and how he became the first Avatar, when Korra lost her memory. One of the scenes shown was a Chinese palace of the Chou estate, where Wan stole food from the Chou brothers. ...there is a major problem here. If you think about the development time it took between A:TLA and TLOK, it only takes 70 years to build Republic City, which is supposed to resemble an advanced city, from the plans and cars in it, as well as compared to the rest of the world...But when they show Avatar Wan's time, it is remarkably similar to Avatar Aang's time. The resemblances include: •Cloths •Buildings •hierarchy •spiritual resemblances •etc. The catch though, is that Avatar Wan lived 10,000 years ago, prior to Avatar Korra. If it only takes seventy years for man to turn Yue Bay into Republic City after the 100 Year War, then why, after 9,930 years after Avatar Wan, does nothing change until after Avatar Aang's time? If the timeline was correct, and Avatar Wan did live such a long time ago, then this means that his people should still be caveman, living in the forest, instead of the status as shown in the episode. Now if you do look at the history of the show, there's a gigantic time gap between Avatar Wan and Avatar Aang. Sure, there's information on what happened, but none of it was shown. In fact the farthest past shown, aside from the first Avatar incident, was in Avatar Kyoshi's time, when she founded Kyoshi Island. A lot of other things could of happened then, that can easily be missed, or simply forgotten after so long. Even from Wan Shi Tong's famous library. Animals Chimeras One thing that supports this apocalyptic theory are the animals. Almost all the animals on the show are either based off legends (such as Unagi, Fang, or the Lion turtle), or a type of animal called chimeras. Chimeras are animals that are basically hybridized. All sorts of examples are shown, a few include Sky Bisons, Buzzard-Wasps, Cat-deer, or Hippo cows. Animals like this simply can't be from any natural selection of any sort, no matter what habitat or climate an animal's in. Perhaps the apocolyptic event forced these radioactive, sci-fi changes in animals, resulting in the fauna on the show. It is aware that hybrid animals are shown during Avatar Wan's time (mainly hybrid pigs). And while normally, this would debunk the whole thing, consider this: If you look, there is evidence of hybrid pigs in the real world. Examples evident in that episode, mainly the cow pig and the sheep pig, are examples of real life hybrids. (in case you don't believe that, here's an example of a real life hybrid pig: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/04/16/article-0-092820F8000005DC-314_634x423.jpg) Mutants On the show, there are normal animals, but they are altered in some way. Examples include giant beetles in the desert, and huge koi fish off the coast of Kyoshi Island. These animals aren't chimeric, but they are still mutants, compared to their regular counterparts. Signs that something must of happened to make them this way. Normal Animals On the show, there was evidence of regular animals, no mutations present, but the show put it that they were either rare or non-existent. A perfect example is the Earth King's pet bear named Bosco. In his backstory, he was described as the only known species of normal bear, and a bunch of zoologists were sent out to find Bosco a mate, but no evidence was said upon the success/failure of the mission. This signifies that 90% of all regular animals were mutated in some way, somehow. There are other minor examples which include pets, fish, rodents, birds, and insects. This says that most small animals avoided any mutations, exceptions include the Winged-Lemur. Architecture Throughout the first series, there's a lot of evidence of ancient buildings and ruins shown. Examples include the ruins of Taku (shown above), and the Sun Warriors' ancient city. These ancient cities oddly resemble those that were current among Avatar Aang's time, further evidence that there was an advanced time before Aang existed. The perfect example of this is the Sun Warriors' ancient city, which mirrored the Fire Sages Temples surprisingly well. Benders Now before I continue onto benders, let me say that I am aware that there are other explanations, aside from the apocalyptic event, that gave benders their powers. But keep in mind, that these are pure legends made by people over many years, and legends can easily be proven false as easily as they can be proven real. With that said, let's continue. In the show, there are 4 distinct elemental powers shown. There's Firebending, Waterbending, Earthbending, and Airbending. In the show, they had their own "excuses" as to how humans earned these abilities. In The Legend of Korra, it turns out that the lion turtles were giving these powers to Avatar Wan and his kind during their time. As this might explain the bending back with Avatar Wan, a power given to an individual doesn't get passed down through teaching. So when the lion turtles gave up giving powers away, the bending died down. Perhaps this same apocalyptic event had mutated the humans as well, giving them similar bending abilities. This would also explain the side-abilities (examples including Metalbending, Lightning generating, and other unorthodox bending abilities.) While the lion turtles explain the main four, they can't give benders these types of bending styles, meaning that the humans had to cope with these powerful mutations put upon them. Characters Other evidence are the characters themselves. Shown in ATLA, there are a few characters that simply just can't be without special intervention. Examples are shown below: Combustion Man In Book 3, there is a nameless character simply known as the Combustion man, a nickname given to him by Team Avatar. Compared to most other people, he is both mysterious and threatening. His own appearance is very unique, even for the Avatar World. His various parts, which include a "third eye" on his forehead, and a metallic arm and leg. Compared to other firebenders, none of them can match his ability, saying that some sort of mutation happened to him, or "experimental technique" as stated in his trivia. Guru Pathik At the end of Book 2, a character named Guru Pathik appears. What's interesting about him, is that he has survived far beyond normal human age, precisely 150 years. This makes him the oldest living human on the show, as it states that he survives through meditation. Meditation and its effects have been known to help you live longer, but not to Pathik's extent of 150. So there has to be some other means as to how he lived so long... Knowledge There were many references in terms of knowledge in the show. One reference is the solar eclipse. In the episode The Library, Sokka and Aang try to discover when the next solar eclipse will occur using Wan Shi Tong's planetarium machine. This alone is a rather advanced reference to the time frame. Most primitive people had their own stories behind how eclipses occur, but in the show, it almost seemed that they fully understood that the moon covered the sun during this instead of usual legends. In the episode, The Day of Black Sun, Part 1: The Invasion, it seems that the reference of space is old news. After Aang explains how he can't use his Avatar State, Toph, bored, goes on about it being "something about space". Although this is rather small, it does say that the people are already aware of space, to an extent. They are also aware of the moon's effect on water, as said when Team Avatar was in the North Pole. This type of knowledge says that they had learned this stuff before their current time - evidence of advanced knowledge before the series began. Category:Cartoons